the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. anne gumowitz. the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. sometimes we can see the universe in a grain of sand, as the old saying goes, but nowadays a graphic chart more vividly reveals the world we live in. take a look at this statistical snapshot of the media ecology that largely determines what you and i see, read, and hear. in 1983, 50 corporations controlled a majority of media in america. in 1990 the number had dropped to 23. in 1997, 10. and today, six. there you have it -- the fistful of multinational conglomerates that own the majority of media in america. what do we call it when a few firms dominate the market? oligopoly. doesn't quite rhyme with democr